Friday, 30 June 2017

Happy Friday everyone! Today I have something summery to show you that reminds me of our mini break from Sunday to Tuesday. It was soo lovely and relaxing, and involved an awful lot of eating!

This nail art is very similar to some Mo You London were sharing when they added the succulent themed plates to their Hipster collection. They version used slightly different images and the dots were just pink. I used the Hipster 18 plate which is perfect for me as my nails are pretty long at the moment. There's so much you can do with this plate and it's very pretty to look at too.

I used a dotting tool for the pink and turquoise dots, and then stamped in black stamping polish, a good quick design to do (compared to most other things I try!)

Thursday, 22 June 2017

Hi everyone! Just a short post today. This is another one I did for the nail addicts collaboration on Instagram. This month the theme was monochrome, using different shades of your favourite colour to create nail art. Small amounts of black or white were also allowed for outlines but I managed to use dark blue for mine.

I used the advanced stamping technique with my Uber Mat to create the pattern (see how here). The image is from the twi-star Bundle Monster mermaid plate. It took a pretty long time to fill in the scales! I also used a white base coat underneath to make the colours stand out.

Monday, 19 June 2017

Hi everyone! Got some very temperature appropriate nails for how hot it's been this week, I hope the weather will last for my days off next week!

This weekend I had a go at some nail art for #BabyMermaidMonday, which is an Instagram hashtag with a monthly theme (always mermaid related of course). Todays theme was pink, orange and yellow, so a very tropical feel. The main colours had to be pink, orange and yellow, but small amounts of other shades (e.g. gold and black like I've used are allowed for detail/outlines).

For the mermaid scales and the fiery mermaid on my thumb nails I used the Bundle Monster twi_star plate, and for the leaf gradient stamping I used Mo You Londons Tropical Plate 10. For the palm tree I created a decal myself on my Uber Mat, using a nail art pen for the outline and filling it with black polish using a dotting tool. I think I should have gone for a slimmer or gold palm tree as the black is a bit overpowering.

For the mermaid on my thumb nails I used the advanced stamping technique (you can see how here). I started with a little bit of ILNP's shimmery topcoat, The Magician. It's not all that clear in the pictures but it worked surprisingly well over these colours and gave the mermaid a warm subtle shimmer. Unfortunately the mermaids hair got a little smooshed as I was in a rush! I did like this nail art though as the gradient went better than usual and I'm enjoying having bright summery colours again!

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

Hi everyone! Got something a bit quirky on my blog, featuring the ever popular unicorn, and the increasingly popular narwhal! I have some adorable socks with narwhals on and the words 'unicorn of the sea', so I used them as inspiration and added unicorns. I've never heard them described as narwhals of the land before but there's a first time for everything!

For the base glitter I used Illyrians Charming on one hand and Nimbus on the other, you can see my review of them here. For all four fingers on my unicorn hand and the index finger on my narwhal hand (definitely going to refer to my hands that way from now on!) I used the advanced stamping technique with my Uber Mat to create decals. You can see a picture tutorial for that process here.

For the remaining three fingers on my narwhal hand and the words on my thumb I created my own decals on my Uber Mat. This was the first time I'd done so and it was surprisingly easy! I used a nail art pen from Barry M to draw the narwhals and write the words on my Uber Mat and went over them a second time to strengthen the opacity of the 'ink'. I then used a dotting tool to colour in the images with nail polish, and once dry. painted a layer of clear polish over the top. Once that was dry I peeled them off my mat and applied them to my nails, covering with a topcoat to blend the image in.

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Hello nail people! Today I'm getting back into the spirit of my monthly indie review (I don't really have the space to keep that up anymore - much as I enjoyed buying the polish!) and reviewing a new indie polish brand I've recently tried. The brand is Illyrian and I purchased two pale glitters from Rainbow Connection to try.

First up is Nimbus, a lilac-ish pale purple with flecks of blue and some holographic sparkle. It applies well and the below pictures are just two coats. Some might prefer three but I was surprised how well it covered in two. I like the iridescent sparkle of this one!

The second polish I tried was Charming, a shimmering pale pink with holographic sparkle. Again, this was two coats, though I'd say it was marginally more sheer than Nimbus. I was impressed that I could just paint these on and not sponge them.

I think that's all to say really! They're both lovely and lasted really well. Would definitely buy from this brand again.